That was the BEST THING EVER.

[apocalypsos]

I went to Wal-Mart after going to Panera to get my hair cut and as I was paying for my hair dye at the express lane, this middle-aged guy booked past me towards the exit. The cashier and I just kind of looked at each other all, o.O.

So I paid for the dye and walk over to the exit, and the middle-aged guy is blocking some young guy in a hoodie and baggie pants from leaving and keeps saying, "Don't try anything, buddy." And the kid just keeps his head down and tries to walk "casually" around the middle-aged guy, which obviously is not working, because now a small crowd is starting to form. So then the young guy tries to duck right, and ends up getting slammed into the wall by the middle-aged guy and then thrown to the ground. A second later, some other employee appears out of nowhere and piles onto the guy, too, with the middle-aged guy yelling to the greeter, "Call the police!"

When I left, they were still wrestling the young guy on the ground, and he was either just red-faced from exertion or crying really hard.

I really should have stayed until the police got there. And maybe run in to buy some popcorn to eat while I watched.

Comments

[sassygirl.livejournal.com]

Oooooh! Was it a store detective? So interesting to ponder!
(Hello, I found you on a friendsfriendslist and I hope you don't mind that I added you.)

[sparrowsverse.livejournal.com]

Was probably the store detective or the security that is hired by Wal-Mart to walk around the shop, dressed normally, not in uniforms. They walk around all day long and look for shoplifters. *former wal-mart cashier here*

I saw that kind of thing several times when I worked as a cashier.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, figured as much. I'm just amused because I don't think I've ever seen a shoplifter caught before. :)

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

I once ran into a friend and former co-worker at a Wal-Mart, and that was his job, too. (Unless he was even deeper undercover and not telling me...)

[budclare.livejournal.com]

I just hope he was stealing something good, like a dvd or something, because if he was stealing medicine for his poor sick mother, we're all going to feel kind of bad for laughing at him.

[revenantrose.livejournal.com]

*looks at comments* There are store detectives? This is news to me. That just sounds cool. 'store detective' Hardly a glamorous job, though.

I feel bad for the kid, I sort of was him once. Except it was a thrift store and I was stuffing crap I had no use for into my purse just to impress my older brother. He thought it was so cool when I got away with stealing things (since he was too chicken to do it).

I was like 9 and some older man (def. NOT a store detective, just a coward) saw me and told the manager instead of coming up to me and saying 'I see you' which is what I would do if I saw a kid stealing.

I didn't get tackled, though. Three or four guys stood around me in a circle while I cried and once I admitted to it they took me to the back room, photographed me with the stuff in my hands and called my mom.

...I actually ended up keeping some of the stuff, though, since I didn't take it all out to show them. They can't make you empty your purse (unless they call the police), though I didn't know that at the time.

Poor kid. I can't imagine if they'd actually called the police on me or if there'd been a crowd. But hopefully he'll learn his lesson and won't do it again (not that I did. I just got craftier about it).

[squee1123.livejournal.com]

man, now i'm all interested about what the kid DID. too bad you didn't stick around.

[kirana-44.livejournal.com]

When I worked at Wal-Mart we weren't allowed to tackle shop lifters, or chase them out into the parking lot, or really do anything other than follow them. Your Wal-Mart sounds much more fun than the one I worked at. We did have a security guy, but he's a great big hulking guy that people tend to notice, and on one amusing occasion, complain about being followed by.

[backinblack.livejournal.com]

Asset loss dude taking someone down, no doubt. Man, when I worked at Walmart (THREE MONTHS OF HELL) we never actually got to see anyone get taken down. :(!